The “we’ being me and Jabber. You see, we’ve posted and yet again the photos DISAPPEAR. Jabber and I can see them, but you can’t. It’s quite disturbing. So the last post was immediately removed and saved, and I’m trying to repost it here hoping that the photos will stay UP. (I’m trying to do this sneakily, before the photo stealing gremlins realize it.)

I mean, come on, Weeders, I know you don’t want to read what I write! You want to seewhere I’ve been, right? Yes, I know you do. Uh huh……

STALKERS!

Oh, alright. No, you are nice people. Sorry about that. That was Jabber calling you a name. Please excuse her. (Besides, who the heck is REALLY all that interested anyway! I mean there are other more valuable things to do with your life than bother with yours truly–or Jabber for that matter–and I frankly don’t blame you!)

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Here is the second attempt of a post:

“Good Gravy,” Jabber said being about as profane as is allowed here, “you don’t HAVE any cows.”

Oh, I know it’s shocking to hear her write that–errrr, READ her write that, but there it is. She can become quite exasperated with me from time-to-time.

The thing is, however, I do happen to have a couple of cows. Vanna provided them. She was, after all, an Illinois Farm Girl in her prior life. (Before Nashville).

I gave them both a sponge bath. Here–I took a couple of pictures to prove it:

“Wait a min….” Jabber studied the picture and commented, “You’ve got a swan a swimmin’ too?”

Yes. Do. Washed as well. She really enjoyed it, more than the cows.

Preparations for the upcoming Christmas tree decorating gala….I had thought about possibly Dryel-ing the cows, but I doubted they’d fit in the dryer. Well, maybe they would have, dunno. If any of you have Dryel-ed a cow or a swan, for that matter, would you please let me know?

Meanwhile, yard sales continue with the Grand Finale of sales this past weekend we fear. So we were off galavanting around, terrorizing sellers and other shoppers alike when possible.

“You seem to be caught up in the g words today,” Jabber noticed, “Gala and Galavanting and good grief, all that….”

Waxing poetic. Getting the Holiday Spirit, you know. First Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then THE REAL HOLIDAY OF THE YEAR! Christmas and then New Year’s. Oh my, yes, I do get quite golly jolly ’bout this time of the year.

So, back to sales. On a recent weekend, it was ALL of us–oh yes, the Brocanters were out there in the Brocanting van, terrorizing sellers and amusing other buyers as best we could. Sometimes we don’t even try. They just laugh. I can’t explain why.

One of the Great Treasures we saw. It needed a home, but not one of ours.

Thumper found one of the sweetest scrap books ever–it contained articles and photos from the 1800’s era when we were all young women……no, that’s not right….from the 1930’s and 1940’s I believe, collected by someone unknown–advertisements, mainly, not personal effects.

Then there were these:

Toby mugs. Not to be confused with my son, Toby. None of them look like him, anyway.

Well, maybe one does…..

There was a large and scary cabinet of some sort, very expensive. I’m sure it was someone’s Gloat of Charms no, no, that’s not right…..COAT of Arms, but it would not fit into any of our decor, so we managed to refrain from purchasing it. Still, it was a sight to behold:

Unique paintings. While this may have had some sort of amazing value and represented some important painter or era, we were buffaloed as to what it might be.

“Man of La Mancha”? “Man with two houses”?
“I Dream of munition factories?” Make up your own title……Certainly I dunno…

You’ve heard of a Bull in a China shop? Well, this is a camel in a glassware cabinet. I wouldn’t do that, but then, obviously the owners knew the camel better than I. With no explanation!

A woman’s face painting without a head….this is a very difficult feat! (Note the receding chin? Oh, ok. No chin.)

And this GORGEOUS FISH! NOT….

Thumper really liked the statue:

Okay, the above photos were from a couple weeks ago…..

In all fairness, sometimes the sellers will warn us of potential dangers–you know, things to be aware of: steps, or something that goes BOO in the night, although to tell you the truth, we haven’t run across anything that goes BOO in the night, But we might. However, two weeks ago, we encountered this:

HOW SCARY IS THAT?

Answer: not very, but it’s cute.

And, guess what? Tim McGraw was waiting for us at one sale:

Cupcake, for whom we continually are searching for an appropriate groom–(we’ve GOT everything else, peoples!), looked him over fairly well, but decided he didn’t have enough personality for her boisterous lifestyle…

Alas, he’s not the right one, either.

Well, that catches all of you all(that’s plural) up on the Brocanter’s adventures for now. I must be about tasks at hand. Namely: surgery.

“What?” Jabber was astounded as I know nothing about being a surgeon….

Well, yes. Two maids a milking’ and a piper who needs to pipe will have difficulty in their present state. I shall do what I can:

Sorry for the long delay–first of all, the photos wouldn’t STAY up on this blog! I’d get it posted, check it, and it would be fine. A day later, the Blog Spider had stolen them and whisked them away. Only a blank white box remained.

It truly was very sad. Not that I shed any tears over it. I just went off and did something else. Now, I’m BAAAACCCKKKK!

So, apologies for that–I’ve tried, honestly I have. Let’s see if I’m more successful with this post.

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Friend Vanna has been working with her family clearing out decades of treasures from her in-laws house. Make that houses. And a barn. And they’ve all been at this for……many years. We can accumulate a whole lot of stuff in our lifetimes, and I’m pleased to report that her in-laws both had good, long and happy lives. They are missed, of course, but meanwhile the business of disposing of all the treasures was at hand.

At the end, deciding nothing else would be sold or claimed, Vanna sent me some photos asking if I’d like some of the old suitcases (among some other treasures). YES, YES AND YES! I replied.

Old suitcases often have been used for happy trips–road trips, airline trips, plane trips. While participating in the adventures, they get banged up–I’m talking about the suitcases here, but in our case, sometimes it’s us as well, but hopefully not. Tends to ruin a vacation, you know. But I digress……

Later, when the style changed, these particular old suitcases were used for storage. Time takes its toll and they needed a good cleaning and sweeping before I might repurpose them.

Be forewarned: this refurbishing takes hours. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying that there is much elbow grease, soap and water involved, plus in this case, some navy blue shoe polish.

When cleaning old things, be careful with any harsh cleaners–old suitcases may have rich colors, some of it is grime!, but pretty none-the-less. Using harsh cleaning products can remove some of that color, so be careful using it. Best to try a damp cloth, some mild soap and see how well you can clean with those. One of the suitcases had some dried white paint–and a small scraper and rubbing a while on each spot got it off. In addition, there was some old masking tape which had sufficed for labels. Over the years, in the heat and cold and dampness, the tape had become one with the suitcase cover, so removing it was not easy. Ultimately, after scraping and rubbing, and using vegetable oil to try to get some of the stickiness off, I used some navy blue shoe polish to improve the looks. It worked fairly well.

Note: old suitcases have a history and a story–they are not supposed to look ‘like new.’ I like the patina of old things–it adds character. If I wanted all new, I’d go buy from a store. I don’t. I want warmth, uniqueness, a sense of theme. Not everyone likes this approach to decorating and I understand that. But I do. It’s also a less expensive way to approach decorating, but frankly I don’t do it because of that.

Finally, I had them ready for display. So here they are in my family room which has a definite British theme:

A book about England sits on top.

Carrying through the British theme to the mantle, a mug with the English flag insignia and a ‘tea’ lamp (holds a candle) sitting on some miniature suitcases.

THANK YOU SO MUCH VANNA! They add much interest to the room I think.

Most of these items were from yard sales! If one will take time, (repeat the mantra), YOU CAN FIND ANYTHING AT A YARD SALE!